Ban the dog or ban the owner? "What is a dangerous dog?"

I have 2 well-behaved GSD's (German Shepard dog) and both are lovable, gentle with humans (especially Kids) and Trained. My wife & I as owners are also all of the above (I am definitely lovable) with regards to understanding our dogs and enjoying the walks, training and fun you can have with your dogs.

The other day whilst going through the fun, walking & training (part of the every day procedure that all dogs should receive). We were with a group of other owners and their dogs, this is also an important part of loving your dog by teaching them socialisation skills with both humane and other animals, when an unfortunate incident occurred, A Guy with two dogs sat on a park bench and allowed his two to do their own thing without any form of control from him. These two dogs went up to a puppy and it immediately laid on it’s back in a submissive gesture and the two dogs started the sniffing that all dogs do. Unfortunately it went a bit too far and the pup started yelping as these two dogs became aggressive.

Up until this point no one (human or Dog) had taken anymore than a watching interest. As the scene got ugly my eldest GSD closely followed by the younger one ran to the pups rescue and literally barged into the two dogs that had got aggressive and chased them back toward their owner who still had not moved from the park bench. At no stage had any barking, growling or biting been used by my two just an ‘Alpha Dog’ "get out of here" prominence to the two aggressive dogs. Fortunately the pup was OK but the pup’s owners were a bit upset. The point of this story is not to say how great my dogs are but one of putting breeds into dangerous categories. All dogs should be taken as individuals not as breeds. A middle-aged lady with a little snappy dog once said to me a while back "my dog is afraid of Alsatians! I replied, "They are not Alsatians" "Oh OK then, German Shepherds" she replied. And although this may sound sarcastic I replied, "They are not German Shepherds, they are Dog's"

People seem to forget that dogs are firstly a dog and secondly a breed and the way they are treated/trained is what makes them aggressive or not. I fully believe the statement "there are no bad dogs just bad owners". To get back to the reason for this petition is that my wife & I along with our two dogs are going on a land rover club rally and will be spending 10 days on a caravan site. Under the site's rules and regulations it welcomes dogs with the normal "must be on a lead, any mess must be picked and so on conditions all of which are understandable, how ever on a completely different page on their web site under fees there is a small section that states that Alsatians pit-bulls rottweilers etc are not allowed.

On phoning them I was given the answer they might bite! Although I explained to them that any dog "might bite" they were discriminating against large breeds unfairly. And that is what I would like this petition to show. How many rescued people have been found by a small dog? NOT MANY!! How many people have been bitten by a small dog? – Loads!! (Please don’t think I am against small dogs I love all animals it’s just that small dogs don’t get the bad press that large dogs get if they should bite someone.
And to finish off by repeating the statement.
"There are no bad dogs just bad owners"